Microsoft Taps Insider to Head MBS Following Burgum's Departure

Published: September 13, 2006

by Alex Woodie

Microsoft yesterday appointed Satya Nadella to oversee its growing Microsoft Business Solutions ERP division. Nadella takes over the position of corporate vice president from Doug Burgum, the former Great Plains chief who will leave Microsoft next June.

Nadella immediately takes over the job ofsteering the $1 billion MBS organization, although Burgum will stay on to assist in the transition. Burgum, who has remained in the former Great Plains headquarters in Fargo, North Dakota, says he has spent "little or no time" thinking about what he's going to do after he leaves Microsoft on June 30, 2007.

The selection of Nadella surprised some, who thought Microsoft would look outside the organization for a successor to Burgum. Nadella has worked in the research department of MBS for five and a half years and is imminently familiar with the division's global operations, according to Burgum.

"After conducting an exhaustive search for the right candidate, Doug and I ultimately realized that one of our own internal candidates, who we recognized as a top contender at the very beginning of the process, was and is the strongest candidate for the job," said Microsoft Business Division President Jeff Raikes in a PressPass Q&A posted to Microsoft's Web site yesterday.

In a conference call yesterday, Nadella sounded excited about the challenge before him. "The idea of being able to connect people to business processes to increase productivity for businesses, overall. is really what excites me, what excites my team," he said. "I remain excited as ever about our People Ready business vision."